Another day, another twist in the endless saga over whether or not the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway project reviews should be published.

Two weeks ago we had Treasury minister John Healey cryptically ‘not ruling out’ changes to how Gateway information is to be made public.

And last week the Information Tribunal ruled in favour of the OGC releasing the early reviews of the ID card scheme under the Freedom of Information Act.

Running throughout is the OGC’s opinion – and, off the record, of Computing contacts on the Gateway teams – that publication of the reviews diminishes the process by inhibiting the project staff upon whose frankness reviewers rely.

All the argy-bargy is certainly good news for commentators. But if the argument against publication is that it will inhibit candid appraisal, then uncertainty about future requirements must surely have the same effect.

Regardless of whether the ID scheme reviews are released on this occasion, the likelihood is that changes to the culture of complete confidentiality will have to be made – and Healey’s comments suggest that the Treasury knows it.

What is most likely is a compromise: publication of the overall red-amber-green scoring, but few of the background details, perhaps. But whatever the changes, the Treasury needs to spell them out as soon as possible.

After a week when technology problems hit the headlines once again – with both the registrars’ system and Scotland’s electronic vote counting machines – you could be forgiven for thinking that government technology projects have made no progress since the bad old days.

But you would be wrong.

There have been substantial advances – of which Leeds Council’s creation of a well-supported, audited IT profession is an example.

The Gateway review scheme is another. The sooner the endless confusion is clarified, the quicker we can all move on.